Former Marlins star Miguel Cabrera charged with DUI in St. Lucie County

Deputy had to strike Cabrera with knee to subdue him, report says

(St. Lucie County Sheriff's…)

February 17, 2011|By Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

ST LUCIE COUNTY — Detroit Tigers and five time All-Star Miguel Cabrera was arrested Wednesday in St. Lucie County on DUI and other charges after sheriff's investigators spotted his vehicle on the side of the road with smoke coming from the engine compartment, according to records released Thursday and an official.

When a deputy made contact with Miguel Cabrera, 27, before 11 p.m. Wednesday in the 30000 block of Okeechobee Road, the deputy asked Miguel Cabrera who was with him.

The deputy saw no one else in the black 2005 Land Rover or in the area. Cabrera, of Boca Raton, grabbed a bottle of James Buchanan Scotch and started drinking. The first baseman has struggled with drinking-related problems.

Miguel Cabrera, a native of Venezuela who plays first base for the Detroit Tigers, played several years for the Florida Marlins before joining the Tigers, where sources have reported his salary is $20 million. Miguel Cabrera's Major League debut was in 2003.

Miguel Cabrera, whose eyes were bloodshot and speech "heavily slurred," was handcuffed and walked towards a patrol vehicle before being told to get in the vehicle.

"Do you know who I am, you don't know anything about my problems," Miguel Cabrera is quoted as saying.

A deputy reported Cabrera was put in handcuffs after not following orders. Cabrera also "kept running out in the road with his hands up."

A deputy asked Cabrera to get his a patrol vehicle, and he said, "(Expletive) you."

Deputy subdues Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera pushed off a vehicle into a deputy, who "delivered 3-4 knee spikes" into Cabrera's left thigh.

In addition to the DUI charge, Miguel Cabrera faces two misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer without violence. Sheriff's officials also issued Cabrera a citation for open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Miguel Cabrera, who bats and throws right handed, refused to take a breath test.

Miguel Cabrera was released about 7:40 a.m. Thursday from the St. Lucie County jail on $1,350 bond, a jail official said.

John Stamm, owner of Sport's Towing and Storage, said Cabrera came in his facility in the 4800 block of Orange Avenue shortly after 8 a.m. He proved the vehicle was his, paid the necessary fee and left, Stamm said. Stamm said he suspected the vehicle had been overheating, but wasn't sure.

Cabrera and his wife and daughter live in his hometown of Maracay, Venezuela, during the off-season, according to a bio.

In 2009, the All-Star first baseman got into a fight with his wife after a night of drinking, right before his team surrendered the American League Central Division title to the Minnesota Twins.

During spring training last year, Cabrera said he was done drinking alcohol after he spent much of the off-season in counseling.

'It's not an alcohol problem'

"You guys write in the paper 'alcoholic,' that's not right," he said last March before a spring training workout. "I don't know how to explain, but it's not an alcohol problem."

Cabrera is coming off perhaps his best season. He hit .328 with 38 home runs and 126 RBIs in 2010 and finished second to Josh Hamilton in the American League MVP vote.

The news of Miguel Cabrera's arrest in St. Lucie County was slow to reach the Tigers' spring training complex in Lakeland, but second baseman Carlos Guillen, who like Cabrera is from Venezuela, was shaken when he found out.

"I worry about him. He's got a lot of talent. It's tough for him, for us, for Venezuelans," Guillen said.

"He's a really good friend. I know he was working hard in the winter to have a good season this year," Guillen said.

Miguel Cabrera is best remembered by local baseball fans for his time with the Florida Marlins.

At age 20, he was called up to the Marlins from the AA Carolina Mudcats and made his major-league debut on June 20, 2003, hitting a walk off home run in his first game. He is the second youngest Marlins player - Edgar Renteria (19) - to compete in a major league game.

Later that season, Miguel Cabrera, along with fellow rookie pitcher Dontrelle Willis, played pivotal roles in Florida's World Series Championship. Cabrera hit .286 (3 RBI) against the San Francisco Giants in the National League Division Series, and followed that up with a .333 performance (3 home runs, 6 RBI) in the National League Championship Series win over the Chicago Cubs. In the World Series against the New York Yankees, Miguel Cabrera hit just .167 (4-24), but hit a memorable home run against Roger Clemens in Game 4 in which the Marlins won.

He finished his rookie season with a .268 batting average, with 12 home runs, 62 RBI in 87 games.